Portal:Tennis

Panoramic view of Stadium Court in Tennis Center at Crandon Park, Key Biscayne, Florida, United States. Taken during the 2009 Sony Ericsson Open.

Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket strung with a cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. If a player is unable to return the ball successfully, the opponent scores a point.

Playable at all levels of society and at all ages, tennis can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The original forms of tennis developed in France during the late Middle Ages. The modern form of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis. It had close connections to various field (lawn) games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport today called real tennis.

The rules of modern tennis have changed little since the 1890s. Two exceptions are that until 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s. A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point-challenge system, which allows a player to contest the line call of a point, a system known as Hawk-Eye. (Full article...)

Image 1

John McEnroe (7 Major singles titles, world No.1 for 170 weeks; pictured in 2012)

The Borg–McEnroe rivalry was a tennis rivalry between Björn Borg and John McEnroe, who met 14 times on the regular tour and 22 times in total between November 1978 and September 1981. Their head-to-head was even at 7–7. Their on-court rivalry was highlighted by their contrasting temperaments and playing styles: the Swede Borg was known for his cool and emotionless demeanor on court, while the American McEnroe was famed for his court-side tantrums. As a result, their rivalry was described as "Fire and Ice". They were tied in their five-set matches at 1–1.

In 1980, McEnroe reached the singles final at Wimbledon for the first time, where he faced Borg, who was aiming for an Open Era record fifth consecutive Wimbledon title. At the start of the final McEnroe was booed by the crowd as he entered Centre Court following his heated exchanges with officials during his semi-final clash with Jimmy Connors. In a fourth set tie-breaker that lasted 20 minutes, McEnroe saved five match points (seven altogether in that set) and eventually won 18–16. However, he was unable to break Borg's serve in the fifth set and Borg went on to win 8–6. This match is widely considered one of the best tennis matches ever played. McEnroe then defeated Borg at the US Open final the same year in five sets, which is also considered one of the best matches ever. (Full article...)
Image 2
The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, was a professional tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia. The tournament was played annually at the Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre in Sydney Olympic Park. It is one of the oldest tennis tournaments in the world, dating to 1885. In 2020 and 2021, the tournament was briefly replaced by the ATP Cup, before briefly returning in 2022 and has since been replaced in both men's and women's calendars by the United Cup.

The Sydney International was most recently held in 2022 as an ATP 250 event on the men's tour and a WTA 500 event on the women's tour. The tournament is held annually in January immediately prior to the Australian Open as a lead up tournament as part of the Australian Open Series. (Full article...)
Image 3
The New York Sportimes were a professional tennis team competing in World TeamTennis (WTT). The team was originally based in eastern Long Island from 2000 to 2002, before moving to Westchester County, New York, in 2003, and then to New York City in 2009. The team was founded as the New York Hamptons in 2000, before changing its name to the New York Sportimes in 2003. In 2005, the team made its first playoff appearance and went on to defeat the Newport Beach Breakers in the WTT Final to win its first King Trophy.

On February 14, 2011, WTT announced that the New York Sportimes and New York Buzz had merged and would play the 2011 season as the New York Sportimes. In the three seasons following the merger, the Sportimes played 12 home matches in New York City and nine in the Capital District. On January 16, 2014, Claude Okin, CEO of the New York Sportimes announced that the franchise had been sold to businessman Russell Geyser, and the team would be relocated to San Diego, California, and renamed the San Diego Aviators. (Full article...)
Image 4

The Evert–Navratilova rivalry was a tennis rivalry in the 1970s and 1980s between Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, widely regarded as two of the greatest tennis players of all time. It is considered to be one of the greatest rivalries in tennis history and sports in general. The pair contested 80 matches between 1973 and 1988 (60 of which were finals), with Navratilova leading the overall head-to-head 43–37 and 36–24 in finals. It is the most prolific tennis rivalry of the Open Era.

In the 12 years following the introduction of the WTA rankings in November 1975 until August 1987, one of the two held the world No. 1 position in all but 23 weeks. More specifically, in the first 615 weeks of the WTA rankings they collectively held the No. 1 ranking for 592 weeks, Navratilova at 332 weeks and Evert at 260 weeks. Such was their dominance over other players, that for the period 1977–1987 when the two rivals were first ranked world No. 1 and No. 2, only three times did any other player beat them both back-to-back in the same tournament (Evonne Goolagong Cawley at the 1978 Virginia Slims of Boston, Tracy Austin at the 1979 US Open, and Hana Mandlíková at the 1985 US Open). From the 1981 Australian Open to the 1985 Wimbledon Championships, the duo won a record 15 consecutive major singles titles. (Full article...)
Image 5

Tennis was part of the Summer Olympic Games program from the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics, but was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics due to disputes between the International Lawn Tennis Federation and the International Olympic Committee over how to define amateur players. After two appearances as a demonstration sport in 1968 and 1984 (with a U-21 age limit), it returned as a full medal sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics open for all players regardless of their age and status and has been played at every summer Games since then. (Full article...)
Image 6

The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sport with more complex rules.

Most rules of (lawn) tennis derive from this precursor and it is reasonable to see both sports as variations of the same game. Most historians believe that tennis originated in the monastic cloisters in northern France in the 12th century, but the ball was then struck with the palm of the hand, hence the name jeu de paume (lit. 'game of the palm'). It was not until the 16th century that rackets came into use and the game began to be called 'tennis'. It was popular in the Kingdom of France as well as in England, where Henry VIII of England was a notable enthusiast of the game, which is now referred to as 'real tennis'. (Full article...)
Image 7
World number 1 ranked male tennis players is a year-by-year listing of the male tennis players who were ranked as world No. 1 by various contemporary and modern sources. The annual source rankings from which the No. 1 players are drawn are cited for each player's name, with a summary of the most important tennis events of each year also included. If world rankings are not available, recent rankings by tennis writers for historical years are accessed, with the dates of the recent rankings identified. In the period 1948–1953, when contemporary professional world rankings were not created, the U.S. professional rankings are cited. (Full article...)
Image 8

Steffi Graf

The Graf–Sabatini rivalry was a tennis rivalry between Steffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini, who played each other on 40 occasions between 1985 and 1995. Graf was the world No. 1, and Sabatini reached a career high of No. 3. Both are Major champions, Graf winning 22 titles, and Sabatini won her only major title at the 1990 US Open over Graf. They also teamed in doubles, reaching three French Open finals and winning the 1988 Wimbledon crown.

In Grand Slams, they met 12 times, three of them in finals. Graf leads 11–1. In 1988, Graf beat Sabatini in the semifinals of the French Open, the US Open final, and the Olympic final to complete the calendar-year Golden Slam. In the 1991 Wimbledon final. Sabatini was two points away from capturing the singles title, but Graf took the match 8–6 in the deciding set. (Full article...)
Image 9
The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for men's and women’s tennis, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the ATP Tour as well as the WTA 500 series on the WTA Tour (starting in 2025). Since 2025, it is advertised as the "HSBC Championships" after its title sponsor.
Queen's is one of the oldest tennis tournaments in the world, and serves as a grass court warm-up for Wimbledon.

Andy Murray won a record five singles titles between 2009 and 2016, and a record six championships in total (including one doubles title in 2019). (Full article...)
Image 10

The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is organised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and contested annually between teams from over 150 competing countries, making it the world's largest annual team sporting competition. It is described by the organisers as the "World Cup of Tennis" and the winners are referred to as the world champions. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Great Britain and the United States. By 2023 155 nations entered teams into the competition.

The most successful country over the history of the competition is the United States (winning 32 titles and finishing as runners-up 29 times). The most recent champions are Italy, who beat Netherlands to win their third title (and second consecutive one) in 2024. (Full article...)
Image 11

The ATP 1000 events, also known as ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, are an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour since its inception in 1990. The ATP 1000 tournaments, sitting below the Grand Slam tournaments and the year-end championships, make up the most coveted trophies on the annual ATP Tour calendar. In addition to the quadrennial Summer Olympics, they are collectively known as the 'Big Titles'.

Novak Djokovic holds the record for the most ATP 1000 singles titles with 40. By completing the career set of all nine current Masters series singles titles in 2018, Djokovic became the first and only player to achieve the career Golden Masters. In 2020, Djokovic completed a second career Golden Masters. (Full article...)
Image 12
The Russian Tennis Federation (Russian: Федерация тенниса России, romanized: Federatsiia tennisa Rossii) is the national governing body for tennis in Russia. It was founded in 1989 as the All-Russian Tennis Association and reorganized under its current name in 2002. The federation serves as the successor to the Tennis Federation of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) (1959-1989) and the Tennis Federation of the Soviet Union (1959-93), which was previously known as the All-Union Tennis Section (1929-1959). (Full article...)
Image 13

The Djokovic–Murray rivalry was a tennis rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. They met 36 times, and Djokovic leads 25–11 overall and 11–8 in finals. Ten of their encounters were played in majors, with Djokovic leading 8–2. Djokovic and Murray are one of two male pairs to have contested the finals of each of the four majors (Djokovic–Nadal is the other pair).

Djokovic leads on hard courts 20–8 and 5–1 on clay, while Murray won their two matches played on grass. The rivalry began highly competitive and remained so for many years. However, after Murray won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships over Djokovic in the final, Djokovic took a commanding lead, winning 14 of their last 17 encounters. (Full article...)
Image 14
Wimbledon Championships is an annual British tennis tournament created in 1877 and played on outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) in the Wimbledon suburb of London, United Kingdom. The Gentlemen's Singles was the first event contested in 1877. (Full article...)
Image 15
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournament and an ATP 250 tournament.

The tournament is held annually in January at the Queensland Tennis Centre just before the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, the Australian Open (part of the Australian Open Series). It is owned by Tennis Australia. (Full article...)

The following are images from various tennis-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Harri Heliövaara was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 2Richard Sears, a joint all-time record-holder in men's singles (from US Open (tennis))
Image 3Taylor Townsend was part of the 2025 winning women's doubles team. (from Australian Open)
Image 4A Royal Marines Commando as a services steward in 2005 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 5Bill Tilden, a joint all-time record holder in men's singles (from US Open (tennis))
Image 6Sébastien Grosjean takes a shot on Court 18 during the 2004 Championships. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 7The order of play for all courts is displayed on boards around the grounds. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 8Coco Gauff, the 2025 women's singles champion (from French Open)
Image 9Court 10. On the outside courts there is no reserved seating. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 10Martina Navratilova, the all-time record holder in women's singles (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 11The Ladies' (top) and Gentlemen's singles trophies (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 12Rafael Nadal holding the Coupe des Mousquetaires in 2006 (from French Open)
Image 13Arthur Ashe Stadium with the roof closed in 2018. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 14Jan Zieliński was part of the 2024 winning mixed doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 15Carlos Alcaraz, the 2025 men's singles champion (from French Open)
Image 16Jeļena Ostapenko was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles team. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 17Sara Errani was part of the winning women's and mixed doubles team in 2025. (from French Open)
Image 18Commemorative plaque at Court 18 marking the longest tennis match in history (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 19Horacio Zeballos was part of the winning men's doubles team in 2025. (from French Open)
Image 20Roger Federer, the all-time record holder in men's singles (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 21Wimbledon operates a ticket resale system where returned Show Court tickets can be purchased. All proceeds go to charity. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 22Strawberries and cream at Wimbledon (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 23Spencer Gore, the winner of the inaugural Wimbledon Championship (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 24Lyudmyla Kichenok was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles team. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 25Jannik Sinner, 2025 men's singles champion. (from Australian Open)
Image 26Barbora Krejčíková, the 2024 ladies' singles champion. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 27Bill Larned, a joint all-time record holder in men's singles (from US Open (tennis))
Image 28Kateřina Siniaková was part of the 2025 winning women's doubles team. (from Australian Open)
Image 29Centre Court at Wimbledon in May 2019 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 30Rafael Nadal, the all-time record holder in men's singles (from French Open)
Image 31Marcel Granollers was part of the winning men's doubles team in 2025. (from French Open)
Image 32Harri Heliövaara was part of the 2025 winning men's doubles team. (from Australian Open)
Image 33Kateřina Siniaková was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 34Jordan Thompson was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 35View from seats of Wimbledon Court No. 1 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 36Todd Woodbridge holding the Gentlemen's doubles silver challenge cup in 2004 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 37Andrea Vavassori was part of the winning mixed doubles team in 2025. (from French Open)
Image 38Madison Keys, 2025 women's singles champion. (from Australian Open)
Image 39Sara Errani was part of the 2024 winning mixed doubles team. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 40New Show Court Arena that opened in 2022 (from Australian Open)
Image 41Composition of the courts (from French Open)
Image 42Hsieh Su-wei was part of the 2024 winning mixed doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 43Carlos Alcaraz, the 2024 gentlemen's singles champion. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 44The various trophies contested at the Wimbledon championships being displayed at the All England Club museum (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 45People watching the Championships' broadcast in Canary Wharf (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 46Aerial view of the grounds (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 47Rod Laver Arena, the main court of the Australian Open, in 2023 (from Australian Open)
Image 48The Royal Gallery at Centre Court, Wimbledon (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 49Molla Mallory, the all-time record holder in women's singles (from US Open (tennis))
Image 50Margaret Court Arena at the Australian Open in 2005 prior to its redevelopment. Rod Laver Arena is in the background. (from Australian Open)
Image 51John Peers was part of the 2025 winning mixed doubles team. (from Australian Open)
Image 52Henry Patten was part of the 2025 winning men's doubles team. (from Australian Open)
Image 53Andrea Vavassori was part of the 2024 winning mixed doubles team. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 54Jannik Sinner, 2024 men's singles champion. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 55The Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup (from Australian Open)
Image 56Aryna Sabalenka, 2024 women's singles champion. It was her third major title. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 57Margaret Court, the all-time record holder in women's singles. (from Australian Open)
Image 58Court Philippe Chatrier during the 2013 French Open (from French Open)
Image 59Max Purcell was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 60New Rod Laver Arena entrance added in 2018 as part of the Melbourne Park redevelopment. (from Australian Open)
Image 61Chris Evert, the all-time record holder in women's singles (from French Open)
Image 62Henry Patten was part of the 2024 winning men's doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 63Olivia Gadecki was part of the 2025 winning mixed doubles team. (from Australian Open)
Image 64Jasmine Paolini was part of the winning women's doubles team in 2025. (from French Open)
Image 65The Melbourne Sports and Entertainment precinct on the banks of the Yarra River in 2010. (from Australian Open)
Image 66Wimbledon ball girl at the net, 2007 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 67Rod Laver Arena night session in 2007, the last year the tournament used the Rebound Ace surface. (from Australian Open)
Image 68Umpires Magdi Somat and Carlos Bernardes between Wimbledon matches in 2013 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 69The Norman Brookes Challenge Cup (from Australian Open)
Image 70Taylor Townsend was part of the 2024 winning women's doubles team. (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 71Debenture of the All England Lawn Tennis Ground Ltd., issued 20th August 1930 (from Wimbledon Championships)
Image 72Arthur Ashe stadium in 2010, before the retractable roof was added. (from US Open (tennis))
Image 73Novak Djokovic, the all-time record holder in men's singles. (from Australian Open)

WikiProject Tennis
Grandslam project • Davis Cup/Fed Cup project
WikiProject Sports • WikiProject Olympics

Lopez at the 2021 French Open

Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (Spanish pronunciation: [feliˈθjano ˈlopeθ ˈði.aθ ˈɣera]; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016.

In 2005, López was the first male Spanish tennis player to reach the quarterfinals of Wimbledon since 1972. He repeated the feat in 2008 and 2011. López defeated Tim Henman at the 2007 Wimbledon second round. He reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 US Open, and won his first Grand Slam title at the 2016 French Open when he won the men's doubles title with Marc López. In 2017, at the age of 35, López won the Aegon Championship at The Queen's Club, London, beating Marin Čilić in a third set tiebreak. He distinguished himself by winning his ATP titles, both in singles and doubles, on all surfaces, hard, grass and clay. During the 2018 Wimbledon Championships, López made his 66th consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearance, surpassing the previous record of 65 consecutive appearances held by Roger Federer. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

... that in high school, tennis player Sara Daavettila went an entire season without losing a game?
... that American Colossus is a biography of a man who was "the most famous sportsman in the world" and "the most forgotten great athlete in American history"?

“

My goal one day is to be in the same sentence as Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall.

”

— Pete Sampras, after winning the 1993 US Open

Australian tennis players Lew Hoad (left) and Ken Rosewall (right) playing a doubles match at the Wimbledon Championships.

Select [►] to view subcategories

Tennis

Tennis by location

Tennis by period

Tennis-related lists

Tennis segments

2024 in Brazilian tennis

2025 in Brazilian tennis

Tennis awards

Tennis court surfaces

Tennis culture

Tennis equipment

Forms of tennis

History of tennis

Tennis logos

Masters tennis

Tennis mass media

Tennis organizations

Tennis people

Tennis records and statistics

Scoring (tennis)

Tennis shots

Tennis strategy

Tennis matches at Grand Slam tournaments

Tennis terminology

Tennis tournaments

Tennis venues

Tennis stubs

Create requested tennis articles, or expand tennis stubs.
Visit Wikipedia:WikiProject Tennis/Assessment, and help out by assessing requested articles.
Add summaries of good tennis articles and biographies to the list of Selected Articles and list of Selected Biographies.
Add the Template:WikiProject Tennis tag to talk pages of tennis articles.
Check the cleanup page and help improve the selected articles.
Check the article guidelines for areas you may wish to edit in.
Find images for Category:Wikipedia requested images of tennis people.

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikispecies
Directory of species
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Discover Wikipedia using portals